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Redacted verse

Form
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Poetry created through selective deletion or concealment of text

Detailed Definition
Poetry created through selective concealment or redaction of existing text, combining visual and literary elements where blacked-out portions contribute to overall meaning and aesthetic. Related to blackout and erasure poetry, redacted verse emphasizes the visual element of censorship or concealment. Source material like legal documents, classified materials, or bureaucratic texts provides rich material for discovering poetry through strategic redaction.
Example
Example in poetry:
Redacted verse appears in M. NourbeSe Philip’s “Zong!”—legal text blacked out to expose slave-ship massacre; modern example: Solmaz Sharif’s “Look” redacts military euphemisms; redacted verse uses erasure as political critique; contemporary poet Jen Bervin redacts Dickinson for “Nets”; this form reveals hidden violence through omission; it treats censorship as poetic material.
Additional Notes
Visual poetry technique emphasizing the creative potential in censorship or redaction. The blacked-out portions become part of the poem's meaning. Legal documents provide rich source material.
Also Known As
Erasure verse Redaction poetry Censored text Blacked-out poem Erasure poem
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